Album Review | Preservation Hall Jazz Band, 'That's It!'

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, through many decades and many dozens of members, has been dedicated to ensuring that traditional New Orleans jazz is not only preserved, but celebrated as a vital part of American culture. If you've ever been to Pres Hall, you know the band has succeeded.

Band leader Ben Jaffe, whose parents opened Pres Hall in 1961, has instigated a series of collaborations with the likes of Tom Waits, the Del McCoury Band and My Morning Jacket.

MMJ's Jim James co-produced "That's It!" with Jaffe, and the album marks an unusual first: In more than 50 years of recording, the Pres Hall Jazz Band has never made an album of originals. They should have started sooner, as "That's It!" is overflowing with casually brilliant musicianship.

The biggest surprise is how much the band sticks with tradition. This isn't a reinvention with James masterminding, nor is it a slavish example of 1960s Pres Hall, all second-line rhythms and church hymns. Instead, it's largely classic jazz with a modern bounceand a heart as big as a kick drum.

- Jeffrey Lee Puckett, The Courier-Journal

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Album Review | Preservation Hall Jazz Band, 'That's It!'

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, through many decades and many dozens of members, has been dedicated to ensuring that traditional New Orleans jazz is not only preserved, but celebrated as a vital